Nancy Wilson wrote a wonderful blog post at Femina that I just had to recommend here.
It speaks to the unmarried woman, who is struggling to be fruitful in her present circumstances. As I read it, though, I could not help but realize, if viewed as such, the great wealth shared for those who are struggling with infertility or other circumstances preventing children.
I know several women who struggle in both of these situations and would highly recommend you heading there for the full article. You know who you are.
It just occurs to me:
God calls us to be fruitful AND multiply~ not be fruitful WHILE multiplying; which means, multiplying is not the ONLY way to be fruitful.
Some of my favorite quotes from her article:
"In your thinking, do not let marriage become an end rather than a means. Marriage is a means of glorifying God, not an end in itself. Determine to use your unmarried state as a means of glorifying God as well, and don’t allow marriage to become something other than what it is in the created order. In other words, don’t let it become an idol, something that has way too much importance to you, so that you believe you are only half a person or that you are being held back spiritually because of your unmarried state." ~paragraph 2
"What kind of man do you want to marry? A good question to follow this one is, what kind of woman would that kind of man want to marry? Are you that kind of woman? What can you do to become that kind of woman? These are helpful questions to process." ~paragraph 4
"Next piece of advice: be fruitful. Whatever God has called you to do right now, do it eagerly and with thanksgiving. Look around and find ways to be productive; don’t be waiting around for the next thing. Get out and about. Look for opportunities and use your gifts. Cultivate your gifts. Learn some new things." ~paragraph 5
You know what? On second thought: just read the whole thing!!!
3 comments:
I have an unmarried friend who is being a bone-head right now (and I say that with love), and I'm going to pass this article along to her- Thanks!
I do think these are wonderful thoughts. But I also think that if we are on the other side of singleness (married) or on the other side of infertility (fertile)--we need to be very thoughtful with our single and infertile friends. We must be sensitive and, perhaps, listen more than give advice.
*I am speaking as someone who is infertile, but now has a wonderful adopted son! I still am sad that I can't procreate the "normal" way, though. :) Now that I have Stephen, I realize that all the "good advice" my friends with children gave me was true--but it was hard to hear it from them. My attitude now with my friends who are still waiting on that first little one is to listen, to nod my head in understanding, and to pray for and with them. To cry with them.
Think of it in this way--just as we cannot save our friends with our words (it must be the work of the Holy Spirit), we cannot change their hearts about singleness and infertility with good arguments. We must pray that God would help them be content and encourage them sensitively.
Okay, I'll stop talking now!
***I'm not trying to be argumentative. :)
**I enjoy your blog--have been reading it for some time now!
Also--I forgot to say in my previous ramblings--that this does sound like a great article. :)
As a married woman, I do find it helpful to evaluate our marriage from my standpoint as a wife. My service to Christ must come first--have I let my husband become my "God"? My husband must come before me--have I begun to take his love for granted?
It sounds like this article would be helpful in self-evaluation.
Now I'll really stop talking. :)
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